


All at Once

by poeticname



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24958648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poeticname/pseuds/poeticname
Summary: Several scenes from the first joint Shinkenger-Gokaiger training week, as observed and experienced by Shiba Kaoru.
Relationships: Don Dogoier/Ahim de Famille/Joe Gibken/Ikari Gai/Captain Marvelous/Luka Millfy, Shiba Kaoru/Gokaiger OT6
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: Toku Poly Ficathon 2020





	All at Once

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tothelight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tothelight/gifts).



> So I took the "based off canon interactions" part of your crossover prompt and completely ran with it. Enjoy?

On the very first night of the Gokaigers’ stay at the Shiba manor Kaoru finds their leader out of bed.

Captain Marvelous seemed to retire early at first. He’d eaten enough food for four people at dinner and then promptly gone to the room the Gokaigers were all sharing, a move that seemed reasonable for a man who just ate enough food for four people, but the instant Kaoru hears louder-than-a-kuroko footsteps on the deck she knows it’s Marvelous. Even among the samurai who lived in the manor for a year, nobody else would be quite so relaxed when walking through it.

Kaoru puts down her evening calligraphy for a moment to listen more closely. Marvelous sits down on the creaky side of the deck and she can hear him shift around for a moment before he takes in a large breath, then sighs contentedly.

Kaoru heard him do the same thing before dinner.

She gets up form the sitting room table and puts her brush away neatly before walking towards the deck herself, opening the door, and finding Captain Marvelous in the midst of eating some sushi Genta left in the fridge earlier.

Marvelous looks up at Kaoru as the door slides open. He puts a tuna nigiri in his mouth without slowing down or breaking eye contact with her.

“I thought you’d be quite finished after the meal earlier.”

Marvelous grins at her, not a speck of shame in it, “Pirates take what they want Lady Kaoru, don’t know what else I can say.”

Though Marvelous uses honorifics with Kaoru he makes “Lady” sounds more like a nickname than a title and he doesn’t use any other formal speech. Kaoru would wonder how he gains respect with such a lax demeanour, but she’s met enough other teams to know leadership doesn’t have to look like hers or Takeru’s.

Even if Kaoru never met a non-samurai leader though, she’d probably understand Marvelous’ pull. She feels it herself after all. When he uses one of his hands to gesture for her to sit down beside him Kaoru wants to join him, and so she does.

Perhaps his team’s loyalty is as simple as that: they want to be around Marvelous, and so they are.

“If you’re concerned,” Marvelous says, eyeing Kaoru while he picks up another nigiri, “I can tell you that it’ll take more food than this to knock me out.”

“I was more concerned about my guest taking food out of the manor’s stores.”

“Nobody said we couldn’t,” he points out, which Kaoru must admit is true, “plus your henchmen let me do it.”

“The kurokos are not henchmen,” Kaoru points out in return.

Marvelous shrugs, “Suit yourself.”

He eats silently for a moment more as Kaoru thinks of what she should say next. She doesn’t actually object to Marvelous eating the extra sushi when she slows down to think about it. Even Genta doesn’t care for his own day-old sushi, and besides that Kaoru knew Marvelous and his team weren’t going to follow all the manor’s conventions. They are pirates after all.

Kaoru had been counting on that even. Life as the previous Shiba head could be slow at times, and the Gokiagers returning to Earth for a time seemed the perfect opportunity to branch out.

Marvelous extends a hand out to Kaoru while she thinks, holding a piece of salmon nigiri in front of her.

“Want one?”

Kaoru nods, takes the piece, and immediately brings it to her mouth. The mid-quality sushi is more enjoyable now than it was at dinner. Marvelous takes his hand away and leans back as Kaoru eats the rest of her piece, grinning in a way she thinks might be flirtatious but might just be satisfaction.

“Looks like we’ll be getting along quite well, Lady Kaoru.”

Kaoru gives him a small smile back, and the two of them eat the leftovers in silence a few moments more while Kaoru thinks that Marvelous is much nicer than she first gave him credit for.

Everyone commits to waking up early during the Shinkengers’ training week, though in the end nobody forces the issue so some people’s “early” ends up being earlier than others. Chiaki for one is rarely seen outside his room before noon and mostly trains by bugging Takeru to spar with him in the evenings.

Kaoru on the other hand has always awoken at the crack of dawn to train, and as long as she’s been training with the other Ryunosuke has always joined her. Takeru used to join them as well, but since he’s technically retired Hikoma has urged him to sleep more and for a few years now Kaoru and Ryunosuke have had a couple hours to themselves in the yard before the house becomes busy.

This year though, one of the Gokaigers is also an early riser that uses the spare time to train.

Joe Gibken trains with a focus and precision equal to that of any samurai, though he goes through a set of exercises that are nothing like theirs. The first obvious difference is that he uses more than one sword, and the second is that he doesn’t have any practice weapons. First thing in the morning Joe Gibken is training with his real weapons and slashing them through the air like he means it.

When Kaoru takes a water break she finds herself watching him for longer than she means to. His training combines a self-taught swordsman’s unconventional style with the rhythm of a warrior used to drills and she wonders how he arrived at that particular intersection. Maybe she’ll ask later and show him the twin Rekka Daizantous while she’s at it. Since he’s showing off during training, Kaoru should return the favour.

While she’s taking stock of him, Joe slows down and pushes some of his hair back in a gesture that Kaoru’s sure wasn’t meant to be preening but she still averts her eyes from.

A moment later, Joe has sat down on the landing beside her.

“Good morning Lady Kaoru.”

“You don’t have to greet me formally every morning,” she responds, looking resolutely ahead to the place where Ryunosuke is still silently going through drills. 

Joe follows her gaze and sighs, “Tell that to Gai, he’s been drilling us on samurai manners for weeks.”

“I will speak to him then.”

They fall into silence after that, with the yard quiet but for the swings of Ryunosuke’s wooden sword and his deep, purposeful breathing. Joe shifts into a more relaxed sitting position, exposing a bit more of his collarbone under the robe they’ve leant him, while Kaoru maintains her straight back and forward gaze. 

“I thought your team might be too military for me, but you’re much nicer to be around than the Zangyack.”

That explains some of his swordplay. In exchange for his honesty, Kaoru meets his eyes, “I’m glad our manners are to your liking.”

Joe nods and gives her a small smile, “You’re all much better looking too.”

In front of them Ryunosuke squawks loudly enough to wake a flock of birds and surely some of the building’s human residents, but Kaoru just continues to look at Joe as he softly scoffs in response and stands up to stretch.

Perhaps, if nobody who would object is looking, Kaoru should meet him eye-to-eye more often

Evening finds Kaoru in one of the manor’s many smaller rooms, sitting at a low table across from Ahim de Famille and slowly drinking tea while Ahim asks questions about how the Shiba clan works.

Kaoru hadn’t noticed Ahim all that much when she was first introduced to the Gokaigers as a whole. Kaoru certainly noted that Ahim was cute, but between being introduced to Marvelous and having Gai foist his autograph book at her Kaoru didn’t have the time to slow down and take note of the crew’s quieter members.

Now though, having been invited to one-on-one tea with her, Kaoru feels she’s speaking to one of the most remarkable people she has ever met.

Ahim has been trained as a diplomat the way Kaoru was trained as a warrior clan head and it shows in everything she does. She perfectly follows Kaoru’s lead on how to drink her tea, she knows how to lead Kaoru from proper small talk into more in-depth discussions, and she smiles so genuinely throughout that Kaoru wonders how she hasn’t already resumed leadership of her kingdom and convinced the Zangyack to back down through sheer power of pleasantness.

“I think I’d prefer to inspire my people from a distance for a while,” she says when Kaoru asks why she hasn’t started grouping together with former Famille citizens, “and besides that I love my crew too much to leave.”

Kaoru can’t help a slight blush at Ahim using “love” so casually, though she’s determined to continue with their political discussion, “Surely your crew would help you rebuild your kingdom.”

Ahim smiles, picking up her tea as she does so, “You’re right that they’ll help me, but I’m not sure how exactly I want to rebuild at the moment. When I bring my people together, I want to make their lives tangibly better and since I don’t know how I should do that yet, I will continue to travel the stars until I do.”

“Your goals are immensely admirable, Lady Ahim.”

She beams, “Thank you very much Lady Kaoru, I appreciate being asked about them. Do you have plans to use your position in the future?”

That question gives Kaoru pause.

The truth is that she doesn’t know what her plans could possibly be. When she decided to make Takeru the 19th her plans were simple: support Takeru and the rest of the Shinkengers from a distance and continue her previous lifestyle of training and household management unimpeded. There wasn’t much for her to do otherwise, and after giving her approval to the Gokaigers after the Zangyack attacks there’s even less.

It feels like letting her new possible friend down to admit that truth, but to lie would be worse for certain.

“I do not,” Kaoru admits, looking down at her tea rather than meeting Ahim’s eyes. “My ambition was simply to defeat the Corrupt, which has mostly been done and is out of my hands regardless.”

“Then Lady Kaoru, have you ever given thought to travelling in order to figure it out?”

Kaoru looks up at Ahim in surprise, and the other woman is smiling at her with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Obviously you should take all the team you need to figure it out, but I find that new circumstances teach you new things about yourself,” Ahim reaches across the table, putting her hand on one of Kaoru’s, “and by learning about yourself you can surely find a goal.”

Ahim is outright beaming and Kaoru’s hand feels hot where Ahim is touching her. There is nothing for Kaoru to do in this situation but be as stoic as she can manage, no matter that some part of her is screaming at her to bare-facedly ask if this is an invitation or not.

“I have to admit I have not considered that course of action before.”

Ahim pats Kaoru’s hand then sits back down in her seat, picking up her cup of green tea as if nothing has happened.

“Well, I’d recommend it at least, even if ‘new circumstances’ for you means a small change,” her smile is smaller now, with a bit of coyness to it Kaoru hasn’t seen from Ahim before, “you could even try a new tea to start, I have some lovely brews on the ship.”

Kaoru knows this is an invitation to another evening of tea, one that might even be outside the manor, and furthermore she knows that any one of the advisors back at her own manor would tell her not to consider any big changes at all.

But Kaoru is at Takeru’s manor, nobody is going to seriously advise her not to have fun, and outer space tea really does sound interesting.

“I’d love to try some tea with you Lady Ahim.”

Ahim gives Kaoru her most dazzling smile yet, and Kaoru knows she’ll be a force to be reckoned with no matter what she decides to do. 

It appears to Kaoru that Don Dogoier has been holed up in the manor library practically since he arrived, reading up on scriptomancy and only venturing outside to eat or to ask one of the Shinkengers for a magic demonstration.

He has not asked Kaoru for a demonstration yet, the one time she saw him outside of meals he was already speaking with Kotoha, and she suspects she won’t be. When she tried to join the conversation he and Kotoha were having he looked at her, his eyes widened, and he hastily excused himself. He’s tended to avoid her gaze at meals as well.

Kaoru could tolerate this in other circumstances, she’s used to being intimidating, but she invited the Gokaigers to the manor herself. It’s her duty to ensure her guests are well-accommodated and she can’t know how Don is feeling about the manor if she hasn’t spoken to him.

Therefore, a few days into training week Kaoru enters the library after lunch and finds Don sitting right in the middle of it with a colourful laptop set up on a low table and a neat pile of old books beside him. 

She waits a couple of moments before approaching him, taking a book off the shelf so he has the chance to hear her and not be startled when she sits down, but Don does not look up or even put visible effort into ignoring the noise. He simply continues his work, putting a book he was holding back down on the pile and sighing as he presses a few keys on his computer.

The subtle approach is not getting Kaoru anywhere.

“Good afternoon, Don Dogoier.”

At that he startles, folding his laptop over and bowing his head in Kaoru’s direction, “Good afternoon Lady Kaoru!”

"Would you mind if I joined you for a moment?"

"Not at all," he says, so at least he's not so intimidated he won't speak to her. He pulls his stack of books closer to himself and gestures across the table. "Have a seat."

Kaoru takes the offered seat and notes that though he's invited her to speak, Don is looking down at his laptop.

"Have you been making progress on your studies here?"

Don looks up, seemingly surprised by the question, "Well, yes and no... I've learned a lot about your clan's magic tradition, fascinating stuff by the way, but I'm not sure it's applicable knowledge outside of specifically this area of Earth... Umemori is able to integrate technology with this kind of magic but that ability seems to be specific to him and its unclear whether using his technology without him around would be advisable... There's so many variables, you know?"

Kaoru does not know anything about modern technology apart from how to use a credit card.

"I am glad your studies have been fruitful thus far."

"We'll see how far I get.”

There is silence between them for a couple of moments. Don seems to be fidgeting with his hands and tapping his foot restlessly. Tact may be required in most situations, but Kaoru can see Don’s nervousness won’t be resolved without a push.

“Is there a question you want to ask me?”

At that he finally looks up at Kaoru, though his shoulders are still hunched. 

"Have the others been okay to be around?"

Kaoru tilts her head, "What do you mean?"

"Like..." Don sighs and he looks down at his laptop again, "they haven't been coming on too strong have they..."

"I knew your team had strong personalities when I invited them. If I expected them to be meek I would be deluded."

"Not like that, I'm wondering if they've been too forward with the..."

He trails off. Kaoru watches carefully for any sign this is a serious, grave secret he is about to reveal, but mostly Don seems sheepish. He takes another breath in and continues.

"With the romance stuff?"

Don blushes and Kaoru blinks.

"Pardon?"

Don outright looks away, his cheeks quite red, "Well, you know, you're a proper samurai lady and all. I was worried all the flirting was offending you and you just weren't saying anything."

"Nothing any of you have done has offended me."

Barring Joe's significant looks during training nothing any of them had done seemed like obvious flirting to Kaoru either, but clearly she's missing some context.

"You're sure? Not Marvelous being casual, or Ahim inviting you on the ship?... I told them they were probably being too forward but--"

"I'm quite alright with your crew's behaviour."

Even thinking of those behaviours as flirting now and knowing her advisors at home would be seething Kaoru still thinks the pirates have been nothing but pleasant to be around. Even Don's previous avoidance of her now seems considerate, and the sigh of relief he's letting out confirms her good opinion.

"That's such a relief. I... Don't really know how to read your reactions."

Kaoru nods, "The Shiba clan are trained not to show thoughts on their faces."

"Can I ask what you're thinking right now then?"

Kaoru meets Don's eyes. He seems curious now, a bit hopeful.

"I want you to invite me to show off some scriptomancy."

That perks Don right up. His hand twitches towards one of the books near him, "Really?"

"You have asked the rest of my team to help you so I want to contribute as well."

"Then Lady Kaoru, with utmost respect," Don's eyes are practically shining, “can you show me the mirror ring in action?"

Kaoru nods, Don cheers, and Kaoru allows him to walk her to the training field, thinking that while she has been enjoying the lack of decorum of the others, Don's regard for it is nice too. 

Although Ikari Gai is unafraid to start or enter conversations, Kaoru notices after a few days that because he’s so outgoing, she hasn’t been able to speak to him on a one-on-one basis yet.

She has gotten to know the Gokaiger's silver member to some extent. He asked for her autograph when they first met, he joins training sessions with enthusiasm whenever he's awake, and he's always in the thick of things at meals. It would be impossible not to notice his enthusiasm for sentai or his easy way with people. Kotoha took to him much quicker than she usually does with strangers and even Ryunosuke seems to have a soft spot for the man given that he doesn't scold him for loudness half as often as he scolds Chiaki for the same.

His popularity means he's rarely alone though, and given that his other crew members have expressed an interest in her Kaoru's getting curious about the one she hasn't got the chance to speak with yet.

Lunch is not the proper time to approach Gai, as eighteenth head Kaoru has to sit next to her son at the head of the table, but she does observe him from her place at Takeru's side.

Kaoru and Takeru generally do not speak at meals, that would be improper of them, but neither Ryunosuke nor Hikoma is in the room and when Takeru follows Kaoru's gaze to where Gai's cheering on Genta showing off his Origami, Takeru looks at her curiously.

"Would you like me to call them over?"

Kaoru looks at Takeru curiously in turn, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem interested in the pirates," Takeru says, with a tone that suggests he knows it's an understatement, "and if I've learned anything about being a retired lord it's that one's interests should be encouraged."

"You're quite certain?" 

Kaoru would have expected pushback from Takeru, he is her son and he seems to know her growing interest is more than a simple friendship that will only be relevant during the Gokaigers' infrequent visits, but instead he nods.

Kaoru nods in turn and that's that, Takeru calls Gai and Genta over.

"Genta," he says immediately, "can you repeat what you just did, it might have combat applications."

"You got it, Take-chan!"

Takeru gives Kaoru a side look that seems to say she owes him later, and with that sorted Kaoru turns to Gai, who has been looking at her since he was called over.

Gai looks excited in the presence of any Shinkenger, but he seems particularly excited when Kaoru looks at him.

"Good afternoon Lady Kaoru!"

Gai is another pirate who's adhered to samurai manners in a way Kaoru's come to find cute, "Good afternoon."

"I haven't gotten the chance to ask you about your active sentai days yet!"

"I'm afraid there's not much to say in my case," Kaoru tells him, studiously ignoring Genta dropping something nearby, "my time on the field was short."

"I want to know everything I can though," Gai tells her, grinning as he does, "and if the story's not very long, you must remember it in more detail!"

There’s a seriousness as he asks, a genuine curiosity she hasn't seen from him before, and Kaoru happily nods.

"I came to the fight against the Corrupt late because I was too young to start when Takeru did..."

Kaoru continues from there, Gai rapt at her every word, and the two of them talk long after lunch ends, long after anyone else leaves the room. Eventually Gai moves to sit beside Kaoru and relaxes in his manners enough to start gesturing while he speaks. He even calls her “Kaoru-chan” once, though he seems too embarrassed to repeat it.

Kaoru eats her next meal in a haze of excitement that truly all of the Gokaigers are interested in spending time with her, resolving to thank Takeru for his cooperation later. 

Although Kaoru finds that even by the fifth day of training week she hasn’t managed to find Luka alone, on the afternoon of that day Luka comes to her.

Kaoru had been training for hours at that point because Kotoha and Chiaki were feeling particularly energetic, then Gai joined in, then Marvelous goaded them into testing their mettle against the more serious members of the morning training crew and everyone ended up participating in a miniature sparring tournament, barring Marvelous himself who was acting as judge and the sentai members in the building who always made themselves scarce during training.

Luka was one of the residents who generally avoided training, having explained to Kaoru when asked about it that "life was enough training in itself.” Kaoru somewhat understood that coming from an adventurous pirate, though she did think it didn't apply when said pirate was on a vacation meant for simple training.

All in all, Kaoru was surprised to see Luka emerge onto the landing when the impromptu tournament was wrapping up, and even more surprised when Luka grabbed her wrist and dragged her indoors saying she had an important question.

"I'm stealing you from Ahim for the evening," she announced. Kaoru was tempted to point out that wasn't a question at all but let her continue. "I'm feeling cooped up, and you must know where the good shopping is around here, right?"

Any one of the other Shinkengers who actually lived in this manor for a year would be a better choice, but Kaoru was not going to object to an evening on the town and so she readily agreed.

"It's a date, then!"

The pirates were getting awfully bold in their approaches, but at this stage Kaoru didn't mind at all. She felt buoyed throughout the day, excited to see the neighborhood for herself with Luka at her side, and now that the time has come she waits dutifully by the manor gate in a kimono Mako assured her was "as casual as a kimono can be, and also quite pretty."

Luka appears by loudly sliding open the door moments later, herself wearing her usual clothing for moving around. Seconds later, she comes up to Kaoru's side and offers her arm.

"Ready to go, Lady?"

Kaoru nods, and with that they're off down the hill.

Though Kaoru is on Luka’s arm for the beginning of the evening, it doesn’t take long for them to reach the town and for Luka to let Kaoru show her around. Since Kaoru’s observed Luka asking about the manor’s decorations on more than one occasion she takes Luka through the tourist area first, letting her pick out various trinkets and paying for them when the pirate wasn’t looking, then they stray to the more practical part of town where the two of them settle on a bench and eat meat buns while the sun sets.

Luka keeps up fascinating conversation throughout all of it. She has an interest in everything physical, from the trinkets she chose to buy to the architecture of the buildings to what trees nearby would make for good perches.

“I’m half-looking for an escape route when I make note of these things,” she tells Kaoru at some point, a somewhat faraway look in her eyes. “Thief’s gotta thief, you know.”

Kaoru does not know but she nods anyways and Luka rewards her with a grin.

“Not that I’m looking to escape right now, with such lovely company being here.”

She walks Kaoru back to the manor on her arm again, though she’s gotten more casual about it since she first formally offered Kaoru her arm. She leans back on Kaoru now, like she could be on Kaoru’s arm if Kaoru wanted, and to think of that is a thrill. 

Kaoru wishes she had more time with the Gokaigers so she had the time to take Luka up on the offer. 

As the end of training week approaches most of the sentai members staying in Takeru’s manor slow down but Kaoru finds herself working harder.

She puts more effort into morning training with Joe, sparring with him with all the power she can muster. She helps Don organize the Gokai Galleon’s supplies in preparation for a return to space. She makes sure Marvelous has snacks all throughout the day, answers Gai’s questions to the absolute best of her ability, shows Luka every interesting artifact in the manor, and chats with Ahim over tea well into the night.

All of her own team members have noticed. Most of them have refrained from commentary since Kaoru is still a clan head, but Genta still doesn’t have any scruples about that and does tell Kaoru his thoughts:

“If you like someone, you really oughta tell them!”

Which doesn’t help Kaoru’s dilemma much at all as far as she can tell. Kaoru has been relatively clear that she appreciates the Gokaigers’ advances. She hasn’t turned down any one of them yet and gets the feeling they’d have backed off already if Kaoru had said the word. Her feelings aren’t in question, it’s the follow-up that gives her pause.

The week with the six of them has been wonderful and Kaoru doesn’t want to wait another year to see them, but she hadn’t begun the week thinking she’d be going to space and that’s much too big a decision to make over the span of seven days no matter how much Kaoru might want to throw caution to the wind and follow that impulse.

She finds herself in front of the Gokaigers’ door on the final Sunday evening still lacking a solid plan, but all of the Gokaigers are inside, chatting away, and Kaoru wants to be with them if this is going to be goodbye.

Kaoru doesn’t announce herself when she opens the door. She simply slides it open and all heads in the room turn to her.

The Gokaigers have arranged their futons as one large mass in the center of the room, most of them neatly aligned but with some corners overlapping. Marvelous sits in the center with Gai’s head in his lap, while Ahim and Doc were looking at a book together before Kaoru entered with Luka lying on her own futon nearby. Joe was clearly doing stretches at the edge of the room, but he approaches and sits down with the others as Kaoru closes the door behind her.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Marvelous says, self-sure and unbothered as ever even as Gai hurriedly sits up to formally bow his head at Kaoru, “though I thought for a second you might be leaving us until morning for a more dramatic send-off.”

Kaoru sits in seiza near the line of futons but not close enough to be part of the group, “For my own part, I thought your group might appreciate a more private discussion.”

Marvelous sits up more properly than usual, “We’d be into a discussion either way.”

Kaoru nods, then falls silent and looks at her lap to prepare.

She should say goodbye. That would be the responsible course of action, and to say it now would prevent any scenes in front of her team and preserve her dignity. To say anything else would be to discard her obligations, to make herself a disgrace to her advisors in a way she’s never been before, to—

“Lady Kaoru,” Ahim’s voice comes loud and clear, seemingly much closer than she was before, “might our party begin the discussion?”

Kaoru looks up and Ahim is sitting before her, Marvelous at her side and all of the Gokaigers gathered near them.

“We have made a decision you might want to hear before any further proceedings,” Ahim clarifies.

“I would be honoured to hear what you and your party have to say.”

Ahim smiles with as much charm as ever and turns to Gai beside her, “Would you do the honours, Gai?”

He nods enthusiastically and shuffles everyone around to take the place in front of Kaoru.

Then Gai fully bows, forehead to the floor.

“We the Pirate Sentai Gokaigers have decided to stay on Earth for another month, Lady Kaoru!”

Kaoru has been trained to speak in full sentences no matter the circumstance, but all she can manage here is: 

“Oh?”

Gai sits up and nods vigorously again, “Yeah, we haven’t stayed longer than a week in quite a while. We were already extending our stay to join you and the Shinkengers so extending again didn’t seem so bad, plus I haven’t found Luka any good takoyaki and my mom really really wanted me to stay longer for a cousin’s wedding and—”

“I think she understands the message Gai,” Joe says from the back, eyes trained on Kaoru as he does.

“We’d love it if you joined us on the Galleon for a bit while we’re here,” Don is the one to pick up the thread about planning. He is also sitting in seiza, “but of course you’re equally welcome to go back to your home.”

“I’d love to see your other house, personally,” Luka adds. 

Ahim lightly taps Luka’s knee in response and Luka gets defensive, saying she would never case the joint of a lover’s home, but Kaoru is already thinking three steps ahead.

She has more time to decide. She has time to prepare, time to consider, and time to see if she’ll truly fit in with a tight-knit group of pirates.

Before she can get too caught up in potential futures though, Kaoru nods once more.

“I would love to spend more time with you all while you’re on planet.”

All six of them perk up. Kaoru could swear the room itself brightens.

Marvelous grins at her, definitely flirtatious this time as he extends a hand towards her.

“Then come over here Lady Kaoru, and start by sleeping in our room tonight.”

Kaoru doesn’t see any reason to object and doesn’t want to find one. She solemnly takes Marvelous’ hand and he playfully tugs her over onto the row of futons, where Joe makes sure she doesn’t fully fall over and Gai scolds Marvelous for playing around with their fancy samurai guest like that.

As Kaoru lays down beside Marvelous, already feeling Ahim nestling closer to her, Kaoru decides to take the gift she has been given and to worry about all her questions tomorrow.


End file.
